You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Texas
Public Information Act, chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned
ID# 123890.

The Harris County Juvenile Probation Department (the "department") received an open
records request for all records pertaining to the requestor's son. You have submitted to this
office as responsive to the request three groups of records that you have respectively
designated the "Juvenile File," which constitutes the child's probation records, the
"Institutional File," which constitutes the child's detainment records, and the "Medical File,"
which contains the child's medical records.(1) You contend that the requested records are
excepted from required public disclosure pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government
Code.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code protects "information considered to be confidential
by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." (Emphasis added.) Section
58.005(a) of the Family Code provides:

(a) Information obtained for the purpose of diagnosis, examination,
evaluation, or treatment or for making a referral for treatment of a child by a

public or private agency or institution providing supervision of a child by
arrangement of the juvenile court or having custody of the child under order of
the juvenile court may be disclosed only to:

(1) the professional staff or consultants of the agency or institution;

(2) the judge, probation officers, and professional staff or consultants of
the juvenile court;

(3) an attorney for the child;

(4) a governmental agency if the disclosure is required or authorized by
law;

(5) a person or entity to whom the child is referred for treatment or
services if the agency or institution disclosing the information has
entered into a written confidentiality agreement with the person or entity
regarding the protection of the disclosed information;

(6) the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Texas Juvenile
Probation Commission for the purpose of maintaining statistical records
of recidivism and for diagnosis and classification; or

(7) with leave of the juvenile court, any other person, agency, or
institution having a legitimate interest in the proceeding or in the work
of the court.

In this instance, the requestor is not among the listed individuals authorized to obtain the
information at issue. We therefore conclude that, absent authorization from the juvenile
court having jurisdiction over the child, the department must withhold the records contained
in the "Institutional File" pursuant to section 552.101 of the Government Code.

With regard to the "Juvenile File," section 58.007(b) of the Family Code provides:

Except as provided by Article 15.27, Code of Criminal Procedure, the
records and files of a juvenile court, a clerk of court, a juvenile probation
department, or a prosecuting attorney relating to a child who is a party to a
proceeding under this title are open to inspection only by:

(1) the judge, probation officers, and professional staff or consultants of
the juvenile court;

(2) a juvenile justice agency as that term is defined by Section
58.101;

(3) an attorney for a party to the proceeding;

(4) a public or private agency or institution providing supervision of
the child by arrangement of the juvenile court, or having custody of the
child under juvenile court order; or

(5) with leave of the juvenile court, any other person, agency, or
institution having a legitimate interest in the proceeding or in the work of
the court. [Emphasis added.]

Again, absent "leave of the juvenile court," the requestor is not among those listed individuals
having a right of access to the probation department's records. We therefore conclude the
department must withhold pursuant to section 58.007(b) the "Juvenile File" from the requestor
in this instance.

Finally, we address whether the department must release the medical records at issue to the
requestor. Section 5.08 of article 4495b, V.T.C.S., provides in pertinent part:

(b) Records of the identity, diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment of a patient by
a physician that are created or maintained by a physician are confidential and
privileged and may not be disclosed except as provided in this section.

(c) Any person who receives information from confidential communications
or records as described in this section . . . may not disclose the information except to
the extent that disclosure is consistent with the authorized purposes for which the
information was first obtained. [Emphasis added.]

The release of the medical information at issue is governed by the provisions of the Medical
Practice Act. These medical records therefore may be released only in accordance with section
5.08(c) of article 4495b. Consequently, the department may release the medical information at
issue to the requestor only upon the department's determination that the release would be
"consistent with the authorized purposes for which the information was first obtained." See also
V.T.C.S. art. 4495b, § 5.08(j)(1) (outlining requirements for written authorization of release by
patient or minor patient's parent). Otherwise, these records must be withheld.

We are resolving this matter with an informal letter ruling rather than with a published open
records decision. This ruling is limited to the particular records at issue under the facts

presented to us in this request and should not be relied upon as a previous determination
regarding any other records. If you have questions about this ruling, please contact our office.

Sincerely,

Yen-Ha Le
Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Division

YHL/RWP/nc

Ref.: ID# 123890

Encl: Submitted documents

Footnotes

1. We note that both the "Juvenile File" and the "Institutional File" also contain some of the child's medical records.